ABSTRACT
Following the 1992 elections, newly installed National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chair Bill Paxon began an aggressive effort to restructure the committee's fundraising operations. As part of this plan, he directed incumbent members to contribute money out of their own campaign funds to help Republican challengers who were running in 1994. The 1994 elections "signaled the coming of a Republican revolution both in terms of message and money". In the two decades before the 1994 elections, the NRCC had focused on providing highly sophisticated campaign services to Republican House candidates. On the heels of the protracted budget battle between President Clinton and House Republicans, and the 1996 election, the House grew increasingly partisan. House Republicans were embarrassed by the reports of dissension in the ranks, and for the remainder of the 105th Congress, they struggled to regain their footing. House Republicans rewarded Newt Gingrich by supporting his bid to centralize power in the Speakership.
